Trigger warning: This post deals with suicide.
A teenage girl has taken her own life after expressing fears a photo she manipulated would label her a racist.
Phoebe Connop, 16, from Halesowen in the UK, doctored an image of herself with darkened skin and wearing a headscarf.
The Sun reported the teen had told friends her modified appearance would be the only way she’d win approval from her new boyfriend’s parents.
The boyfriend was a man of Asian descent who Connop was yet to meet.
The image was shared in a private Instagram chat with friends before it was later leaked online.
The tragic death was discovered by Connop's father Laurence who was said to have come home expecting to take his daughter out for a meal.
Black Country Coroners court heard the 16-year-old had been working with her 53-year-old father to raise money for a summer holiday.
Laurence told the inquest there were no indications of her motives in the weeks leading up to her death.
“She was a lovely girl who would never want to cause offence to anyone," he said. “She had shown me no indication in the weeks leading up to her death that there was anything wrong, let alone anything that would lead her to do this."
West Midlands Police Detective Sergeant Katherine Tomkins told the inquest police had surmised the image was linked to her mental state.
“From speaking to her friends in the weeks following her death, we discovered that the image had circulated further than she wanted it to," she said.
“There had been some negative reaction and she confided in her friend, who did take the image down at her request, that she was scared of what the reaction might be from the Asian community in her area.”
The inquest heard the young girl was a talented gymnast who dreamed of becoming a midwife.
There has been an outpouring of grief from the young girl's school and greater community.
An area in the school's garden has become a memorial for the young teen and a place for friends to pay respects.
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Top Comments
This is so heartbreaking. No-one should ever feel like they have to take their own life.
Condolences to the family & loved ones. RIP Phoebe.
Prime example of why any new laws introduced need to be on any unauthorised sharing of digital information, not just revenge porn.
Curious how the SJW's stand on this though? On one hand it was apparently racist but on the other it was unauthorised sharing of a private image.
I hate the term social justices warrior. It belittles people who care and want the world to be a better place for all, not just those in positions of privileged and power.
Anyway, I agree with you, unauthorised sharing of digital information is how the law should be, that way revenge porn is covered, as well as other breaches of privacy. This girl did not deserve to have a pic leaked, racist or not. And, I would say that most "SJW's" would agree.
The desire to make the world a better place needs to be moderated with reason. It could be argued that while not a social justice issue Pete Evans is trying to make the world a better place by his advocacy of Paleo over medical advice. Others (like myself) would disagree.
Regardless of the SJW part, I'm glad we agree on the other part. When the laws are drafted they need to be far reaching and not get caught on the hot topic of the time.
Except it wasn't a pornographic image and her fear was negative reaction from Asian, or as we would term, Middle Eastern or Pakistani, people. The kind of reaction SJWs go nuts over as per the mum who put a pic up of her son dressed as his favourite AFL player.
Most SJWs eventually grow up and become functioning adults who aren't triggered into a meltdown by things like applause.
Well, I take issue with the idea that going on the Internet (a public forum) and calling someone names is somehow making the world a better place.